There’s a direct connection between resilience and other qualities that we recognise as positive and desirable in people. Courage, for example, is displayed when people feel strong. And that strength is the same as the feeling of resilience to the pressures that surround you.

The question then is how to deal with pressure. And it’s worth making a distinction between stress - the stuff of everyday life that you must constantly deal with, and pressure - the special, peak moments when you are on the pitch and the crowd is watching as you take the penalty.

You feel the stress only at the times when you lack the immediate resources to handle and deal with the contingencies of everyday life. Pressure is when the consequences are ramped up and there is (apparently) more at stake, with more people caring about the outcomes.

You may want to take extra measures to equip yourself for pressure, such as training, coaching, practicing with simulations. The key to dealing with everyday stress is your collection of coping tactics. These may be different from your special strategies for managing pressure.

The connection between them is that you should maintain yourself in good condition against the everyday stresses, so that you have plenty in reserve for those heightened, high-stake moments of pressure. ​